Staying well at home and on the road

Staying well at home and on the road

My background and beliefs when it comes to health are a weird mix of holistic and traditional Western, a balanced hybrid of yoga, acupuncture, meditation and eating healthy with a well-stocked medicine cabinet.

Staying healthy is a massive challenge when you a) live in a crazy crowded city and b) travel regularly: not only do you come into contact with way more germs but you also don’t usually have the downtime to properly rest. Alas! None of this is exactly ground-breaking and I’m certainly not a doctor, but here are a few of my favorite tried-and-true methods to keep my energy levels high and my sinuses clear.

Hot water with lemon in the morning

Remember back in January when one of my resolutions was committing to healthy habits? This was one of them. When I wake up every morning, I immediately put water onto boil and slice a lemon so that I can sip lemon water while I putter around and get ready for the day. It’s incredibly helpful for toxin elimination and regular digestion. (I also use a neti pot a few times a week, which is a great and kind of weird way to keep my sinuses just as clear.)

Eat real food (+keep your plate colorful!)

This is one of those 80/20 rules things: eat healthy 80% of the time, and don’t feel guilty when you splurge 20% of the time. But I try to eat REAL food at least 95% of the time, and my bar for that is pretty low: real is knowing what the ingredients are.

And one of my favorite tricks to eat healthy comes from a policy my mom instituted when I was a kid: keeping my plate colorful! It essentially helps me to avoid a diet full of starches and grains and carbs by making sure I get some greens (or red peppers, or oranges!) on my plate with every meal. Even when I’m traveling, I still try to pick up fruits and veggies at a local market so that I can keep an apple or tangerine in my bag for a quick afternoon snack and start the morning with a grapefruit.

Hydrate like crazy

Drink water! I always keep a glass of water on my bedside as a reminder to drink more water in the mornings and evenings. I always travel with a Klean Kanteen so that it’s super easy to always have (free) water with me. Side note: coffee is super dehydradting and soda is full of sugar and calories, so it’s worth remembering that all liquids are not created equal.

Exercise, but not too much

I’m a big believer in staying active—yoga, an occasional spin class, opting to take the stairs every day—but also a HUGE supporter of eight hours of sleep. I feel like your body can’t fight infection if it’s exhausted all the time! This is especially important when I’m traveling: I rarely stay out late and drink much alcohol, because I’d prefer to start the day early feeling vibrant and well rested.

Know when to bring in the big guns

As much as I swear by all of these lifestyle choices to stay healthy: I also don’t have the time to let my body heal itself all on its own. I always keep NyQuil and DayQuil Severe caplets in my travel first-aid kit—and I usually pop a NyQuil Severe at the first hint of feeling under-the-weather to tackle it head-on. I used to dread the taking liquid medicine growing up, but I love that caplets are so easy to chuck in my bag AND they don’t taste terrible. Even though I try to keep my lifestyle as holistic as possible, I also believe that there’s no point in turning your back on science—and in today’s busy world, it’s worth it to keep some meds around to kick start your recovery.

Note: this post was kindly sponsored by Vick’s, but I’m thrilled that they gave me a reason to talk about my health policies! All opinions are my own.

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your stay-healthy mentality matches up really well with what I strive for – loving the addition of lemon water in my life, and I’ve been substituting Yerba Mate for coffee which feels great too. But it’s great to lean back on good ol’ fashioned cold medicine when necessary 😉 6000milestohome.blogspot.com

Julia

Agree completely with your health approach! I have been trying to be healthier recently with hot lemon water, lots of water, green juice and yoga 🙂

camorose

Anthropologie, last winter!

camorose

So glad that it does! I seriously LOVE waking up with lemon water in the morning–it’s such a nice easy start to the day 🙂

I’m intrigued by the lemon water idea… I can’t seem to break the tea habit or give up caffeine. But I want to get out of the habit of drinking more than one cup. My acupuncturist suggested plain hot water, but lemon water sounds even better!

camorose

Yes! I used to drink SO much coffee every day but it really just added to my stress levels. Now I have a glass of lemon water first thing when I wake up, and I usually have one cup of coffee once I arrive at the office. After that, it’s water/seltzer water/tea!

About Me

C'est Christine is my little slice of the internet to talk travel, lifestyle and twenty-something struggles. After stints living in France, Australia and NYC and lots of (often solo!) travel around the world, I currently live in San Diego with my husband and pug.